Confidence

■dream big; don't settle for okayness but imagine a great life and strive for it every day


■dream long; don't expect things to happen over night but be prepared for happiness and success to take time

■enjoy the journey along the way, not just when you "arrive"

■work hard; I've not met a happy or successful person yet who in one way or other hasn't worked hard to achieve their goals

■surround yourself with people who are just as happy and successful as you'd like to be
■expect road-blocks; and be prepared to negotiate them as needed

■go with your strengths; don't try to be what you're not; but find a way to be the best you can be and shape this for your happiness and success (whatever that means for and to you)

■stick at it; practice and persevere

Imprinting on our learners (Part 2)

This is the second in a series of three blogs about teacher-student motivation I’ve started to write.


I wrote my first blog about this topic having an inspiration from a video about animal imprinting. In that video a newborn duckling started following a puppy upon coming out of its egg. Apparently, ducklings follow the first moving object they see as soon as they hatch.

I started to ponder the question of why our students sometimes follow us as if we were mother/father ducks. It’s an incredibly satisfying moment. I’m not referring to being a mother/father duck, I’m referring to that feeling that we get when we have a sense that we are leaving a positive imprint on our students.

So what makes people feel attracted to our classes? What motivates people to learn with us? Carl Rogers, the American psyhologist, suggested that there are three core teacher characteristics that help to create an effective learning environment. These are: respect, empathy and authenticity.

We may know loads of teaching methodologies which will aid us. From my experience, I can say, I just love learning about the most current trends in pedagogy. I’m also aware that respect, empathy and authenticity are key to generate a positive psychological environment for learning.

“It is our attitude and intentions rather than our methodology that we may need to work on” (Carl Rogers).

People can tell when we have a positive attitude towards them, when we acknowledge them and when they see we are true to ourselves. Students engage in our classes naturally when we respect them and when we take our time to listen to, observe and assist them.

I have a hunch that students will choose to “follow” us when we help to create the conditions for them to feel confident, relaxed and capable of learning.

So what do you think? What can you tell us about your experience? And last but not least, what moves us to teach in such a positive way?

Your welcome to post your ideas, which I will share in my third blog.

Cheers!

Imprinting on our learners

This is the first in a series of three blogs I’m planning to write about teacher-student motivation.


Have you ever swollen with joy when you finish a class and your students stay a little bit longer to talk to you and the rest of the class? Have you ever experienced a sense of achievement when you leave the classroom and students follow you to continue talking about the issues raised in class? Have you ever felt moved when students tell you they still remember you many years after you’ve taught them? Everyone takes pride in their classes when some of the above takes place. There’s the lingering feeling in the air that we have done something right.

A few days ago, I saw a video about a small duckling which starts following a puppy upon coming out of its egg. According to studies, newborn ducklings follow the first moving object they see. That phenomenon is called “imprinting”: an amazing and very curious example of genetic and environmental influence on animal behaviour. The first scientific studies of this phenomenon were carried out by Austrian naturalist Konrad Lorenz, one of the founders of ethology (the study of animal behavior).

He discovered that if greylag geese were reared by him from hatching, they would treat him like a parental bird. The goslings followed Lorenz about and when they were adults they courted him in preference to other greylag geese. He first called the phenomenon "stamping in" in German, which has been translated into English as “imprinting”.

The video was very sweet and I couldn’t help smiling. I suddenly started to think that learners sometimes behave like this newborn duckling following us wherever we go. I’m not saying that our students think we have become their mother and I don’t really think they feel like ducklings either (even though kiddies are just as sweet, aren’t they?) I’m just trying to figure out what motivates our students to “follow” us. What is it that makes our teaching such a memorable experience? Because we sometimes leave a powerful imprint on our learners, so why?

I remember a situation back in 2003, when I had two groups with the same level and belonging to the same age group. One of those classes was nice, we worked effectively and I got on with every participant really well. The other group was also highly engaged but there was something else, like a magic spell, which made us all happy every time we met. We really cherished and celebrated those encounters. The students in that class cooperated a lot, they put a lot into the classes and they still e-mail me telling me how much they remember the year we shared.

Why do we teach A & B in the same way but we leave an imprint on just one – A or B?

I have all sorts of ideas, which I need to put in order in my head. For the time being, you’re welcome to post your views on the subject.

Cheers! Georgina